Lady Tigers fall to Matadors
Preview Old Settler’s 2017
Deep Eddy finalizes Buda deal
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News-Dispatch Volume XXXVII No. 12
LAGNIAPPE No Newspaper for Dec. 29
News-Dispatch readers will not see a Dec. 29 issue the last week of the year. The News-Dispatch publishes 51 issues per year and our staff takes the 52nd week of the year to spend with family and loved ones.
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
Writing contest accepting entries
Jan.14, 2017 is the deadline to enter the Texas Night Sky Festival Writing Contest. The Festival, to be held March 18, 2017 in Dripping Springs, is part of an international program to preserve and protect the night skies by reducing artificial illumination. For more informa-
LAGNIAPPE, 8
Thursday, December 22, 2016
FM 150 character plan moves forward BY JONATHAN GONZALEZ news@haysfreepress.com
Hays County officials continue to move forward with development of a Nature and Character Plan that will result in a Corridor Master Plan for FM 150 West in Hays County.
The character plan is a document that defines how best to provide the future capacity needed for FM 150 West. According to the improvefm150 website, development of FM 150 West provides the county an opportunity to plan ahead for the anticipated growth and related trans-
Hays County holiday closures and tree recycling
Hays County offices will be closed for Christmas holidays from Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 26-28 and for New Year’s Day on January 2, 2017. The Hays County Recycling/Solid Waste Centers will be closed Dec. 24-28 and will reopen on Dec. 29. Both recycling centers will recycle your Christmas trees for free from Dec. 29 through Jan. 7. Centers are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, except for county holidays. The centers are located at 1691 Carney Lane (end of County Road 278) in Wimberley, and at 100 Darden Hill Road (County Road 162) in Driftwood. Hays County parks will be open normal winter hours throughout the holidays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Dripping Springs Library will be closed on Friday, Dec. 23, and Monday, Dec. 26 for the Christmas Holiday. They will reopen on Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 9 a.m. The library will also be closed on Saturday, Dec. 31, Monday, Jan. 2 for the New Year holiday and they will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 9 a.m. The Wimberley Valley Library will be closed Dec. 24-26 and open regular hours Dec. 27, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For New Year’s Eve, the library will close at the regular time of 6 p.m. It will be closed on Jan. 2 and reopen on Jan. 3 10-6.
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portation needs. The first part of the FM 150 West Character Plan resulted in a Features & Themes Report, which identified existing conditions, input from stakeholders, different community context zones, and important historical and environmental features to be
considered when looking at alternatives. Now the county is working on the next phase, which extends to developing a Nature & Character Master Plan, which will be a more detailed plan of the Corridor Concepts. Ultimately, this plan will guide future plan-
n u p s e m Ho y a d i l o H
ning and improvements on and near the FM 150 Corridor. During the last meeting, officials updated residents on current activities toward crafting the plan. That includes updating traffic counts, reviewing and updating
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Barbershop expands with craft beer bar BY JONATHAN GONZALEZ news@haysfreepress.com
On the verge of the Barbershop’s sixth anniversary in January, local business owners John McIntosh and Dave Niemeyer sought to expand their enterprise. By moving into the space currently occupied by Mercantile Wine and Tapas, McIntosh and Niemeyer plan to open a craft beer bar that will house a taproom and a larger brewery along Mercer Street. “This new business will not be a second location for the Barbershop, but a way of focusing on brewing our own beer,” Niemeyer said. “The Barbershop was meant to be a craft beer bar [that produces small amounts of beer].
NEW VENUE ON MERCER, 6
PHOTO BY LISA CHAFFIN
Wearing period attire, Gracie Davis, of Manor, stands behind Santa Claus during a photo opportunity at the Homespun Holiday event at the Pound House in Dripping Springs Dec. 10. Area residents celebrated the incoming holiday season earlier this month at the Historical Dr. Pound Farmstead during the Homespun event, which featured Christmas book readings, making pioneer ornaments and even photos with the jolly elf in red.
Lights, camera, Drippin’
New video program to highlight city BY JONATHAN GONZALEZ
news@haysfreepress.com
With the help of an outside video production company, the city of Dripping Springs is vying to create a community video program meant to showcase the city. Bonnie Gonzalez, communications coordinator for Dripping Springs, said in a staff report earlier this month that the city will bring in CGI Communications to help with the program. CGI is a video production company based in Rochester, NY. “Through a series of custom videos, the program provides partners with a tool to promote tourism, educate and welcome future families and residents, recruit new business, and more,” Gonzalez said. Entering an agreement with CGI would be a “cost-free” partnership with or without local business sponsorships, Gonzalez said. “CGI provides all aspects of video production and editing. The finished video content will be viewable on our City’s website and can be posted on social media as well.” said Gonzalez. CGI’s involvement in Drip-
“Through a series of custom videos, the program provides partners with a tool to promote tourism, educate and welcome future families and residents, recruit new business, and more.” –Bonnie Gonzalez, City of Dripping Springs Communications Coordinator
ping Springs has already started with the Dripping Springs Chamber of Commerce. Gonzalez said CGI is helping to create a series that’s centered around the chamber. “My understanding [is] that CGI initially reached out to the Dripping Springs Chamber of Commerce. Once its project began taking shape, CGI then reached out to the city to inquire about our participation as well,” said Gonzalez While the city will have to wait its turn to work with CGI, the prospects of the partnership make the wait worthwhile, Gonzalez said. “It’s a benefit for the community as a whole and especially those who are visiting our City
website to learn more about Dripping Springs,” Gonzalez said. “Being that we live in a digital age, and that this comes at no cost to the City, it makes sense to move forward with implementing informational videos on our website.” She added the most “difficult part” of the process could be choosing which topics will be highlighted in the four video series. “There is so much we could highlight. Once completed, City and Chamber website visitors alike will have a video that portrays the best our community has to offer with the click of a mouse. We look forward to working together on this project.” Gonzalez said.
Area realtor stands trial for DWI/ Manslaughter BY SAMANTHA SMITH
news@haysfreepress.com
A trial date has been set for a prominent Buda realtor who is accused of driving drunk and killing an Austin woman in a 2014 accident. Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau said the case involving Jason Tarr will go before Hays County Judge Jack Robison May 1, 2017. Mau said the reason for the May date is that many District Judges have a rotating schedule where they are in a different court in their district every month. Mau said Robison’s first availability to try the case was in March. However, due to the lack of witness availability at that time, the trial was moved to May 1. Tarr, who was indicted in 2015 by a Hays County grand jury, is accused of driving drunk and crashing his truck head-on into a Chrysler Sebring driven by Nancy Sterling-Dalton. Tarr was originally indicted on a charge of second-degree intoxication manslaughter. A charge of first-degree murder was added in 2015. As far as the speediness of the trial, Mau said he suspected it would take a little longer due to the manslaughter charge. “I think it will be longer than a typical DWI case because there is a death involved,” Mau said, “I estimate it will take a week to a week and a half.”